Disclaimer: We don't own Ben 10.
Chapter 5.
Rook didn't enjoy being under cover at all. Being all alone and surrounded by the enemy was nerve-wrecking, but he had to do this. For Ben.
The news of his "Death" spread like a wild fire in only a few hours everyone was talking about the first victim of the war.
While the Bleezians celebrated their victory the civilains of earth wondered how their hero handled this loss. Rook wondered the same thing.
The night he went under cover, Rook stood in front of the large windows of the battleship. Unable to look away from the mass destruction.
He'd stood there, pretending to enjoy the sight like the other soldiers did. He thought things could not get any worse, so naturally the universe tried to prove him wrong. That is when Big Chill showed up and sarted atempting to put the fires out.
Rook felt his heart shatter when Big Chill let out those heartbroken shrieks. And it took all of his strength not to give in and return to Ben right that moment.
Over the next few weeks he got closer and closer to the mother ship. Just when things started to go smoothly...
Everything went downhill.
Rook was walking down the hall when he heard commotion, when he went to check it out he saw Gwen, Kevin, Max, Argit, and Ben fighting off the soldiers. Not wanting to get involved Rook tried to sneak away when-
"One of them is getting away!" Stinkfly cried and started to dive down to attack Rook.
'Oh Brallada'.
Rook quickly took off. He heard Max yell something but he couldn't tell what he said. The Revonahgander ran down many different hallways, hoping to loose Ben, but he had no such luck.
This was not how he imagined his reunion with Ben to be like... Rook ended up taking a wrong turn and got cornered into a room. Rook turned around and saw Stinkfly flying above him.
"Buddy," Stinkfly glared down at the soldier. These Bleezians would pay for everything they'd done. "You have no idea how screwed you are right now." He muttered as he prepared to fire at the soldier.
Under-cover or not, Rook wouldn't even think about hurting Ben, so every time he threw an attack Rook dodged it. Which was actually easier than he expected. Ben had an incrediable aim in the form of shooting aliens, but Ben wasn't aiming the way he normally did.
The teen was shooting slime shot after a slime shot, not thinking. The attacks coming blindly as Ben grew more and more frustrated. The fact that his enemy wasn't putting up a fight wasn't helping. "WHY WON'T YOU FIGHT BACK?" Ben screeched, his attacks coming faster and faster.
Stinkfly prepared to fire his largest slime shot yet, when suddenly the whole room began to shake violently.
The force of it made Rook fall to the ground. Grunting, he tried to get up or else be killed by his own boyfriend.
"Oh crap," Stinklfy stopped forming the slime-shot, when he realized what was causing the ship to shake. "the bomb!" He started fly towards the exit when a large piece of the ceiling fell on top of him.
Rook watched in horror as Ben fell to the ground and stayed there, unmoving.
No!
"BEN!" Before he was aware of what he was doing, Rook ran towards Ben and with all his might pushed the piece of ceiling crushing Stinkfly. After three terrifying minutes during which Rook feared he would not make it, Rook finally managed to push the piece of ceiling off his boyfriend.
Stinkfly groaned softly when the ceiling came off of him, but didn't wake up.
Frowning in worry Rook hit the Omnitrix symbol on Stinkfly's chest, turning Ben back into his human form.
Staring at Ben for a moment, Rook shook his head. This was not the time to let his emotions get the best of him. He could not blow his cover. Not with the risk of losing Ben
Rook carefully picked Ben up and carried him to the corner of the room where he put Ben down and shielded the hero with his body from any more falling rubble.
When the shaking finally stopped Rook looked at the only entrance and exit of the room which was now blocked by large pieces of metal.
Chewing on his inner cheek, Rook looked back at Ben, finally noticing the blood dripping down from Ben's forehead.
The Revonahgander gently pushed Ben's hair out of the way, revealing a small gash on the side of Ben's head. It didn't look that deep, but it was bleeding a lot. Rook reached for the small first-aid-kit attached to his armor and quickly used some disinefectant to clean out the gash before putting a small piece of bandage over it.
Once he was sure that the wound was properly bandaged Rook sat down and rested Ben's head on his lap, and cuped his boyfriend's cheek, taking in his appearance. Ben looked like hadn't had a good night sleep in days.
Rook reached down to brush Ben's bangs back when suddenly those emerald eyes he loved so much shot open.
Ben blinked slowly, disorientated from the blast. It was then that he finally saw the person sitting besides him. "You-!" He quickly sat up wincing when the movement sat bolts of pain to his head. "Okay bad idea." The hero mumbled his hand going up to touch his forehead, frowning when his hand made contact with the small piece of bandage.
He looked at the soldier who was still sitting besides him, unmoving.
"You helped me." Ben stated frowning. "Why would you do that?"
The soldier tilted his head. Rook couldn't answer if he wanted to. He was frozen in his place, unable to look away from Ben's eyes. Those eyes he loved so much, they... Were so dull. The spark was gone... That energetic, spark of life was gone, leaving Ben with a tired, depressed look.
And he'd done that.
Behind his silver helmet Rook was furiously blinking back tears. 'What had he done?'
"Uh... Dude?" Ben questioned, warily gazing at the soldier. "Can you talk?"
Rook just nodded, not trusting his voice, knowing Ben would probably recognize him, just by the way he spoke.
"Well are you going to talk?"
After a moment of hesitation Rook shook his head.
Of course... Ben rolled his eyes. Of course this couldn't be normal- He stilled, noticing something felt off. Swallowing Ben put a hand on his chest and felt around.
It wasn't there.
"The badge!" Ben cried out. Ignoring the pain in his head, Ben quickly got up and started looking, digging though the debries. "No, oh no!" Ben's mind was numb with denial. "Where is it?!" He couldn't have lost that too!
Rook stood up and watched Ben in worry. He looked around, wondering what his beloved was looking for. His eyes landed on his Plumber Badge which lay on the floor where Ben had fallen.
He picked his badge up noticing it has a necklace chain attached to it. Ben kept his badge the whole time?
Rook quickly turned to Ben who was still looking around. He tapped Ben's shoulder, and held out the badge to him.
Ben was fast to snatch it out of Rook's hands. "Oh thank God." The young hero sighed in relief, holding the badge close to his chest. "If I lost that too..." It would be like losing the last piece of Rook he had left...
Ben was suddenly aware of the Bleezian soldier who was still staring at him. He rubbed the back of his neck awkwardly. "Uh, thanks, I guess..." He said, puttin the necklace on again.
The soldier just nodded and sat down with his back against the wall.
After a moment of contemplation, Ben sat down besides him. Looking at the Omnitrix, Ben groaned in annoyance when he saw the stupid exclamation point pop up. They were stuck...
Sighing sadly, Ben looked at Rook's badge. He'd been doing that a lot. Ben would stare at it in moments when he felt that he needed Rook. When he needed to feel the way Rook made him feel, whether it was to cheer up, or feel safe... Rook had always known how to make Ben feel better.
Rook looked at Ben and the Revonahgander practically felt his heart sink when he saw the tears forming his beloved's eyes. Oh how he desperatly wanted to rip of his helmet, wrap Ben in his arms, and promise him that everything was alright. That he was still alive...
But that would destroy everything he and Max had worked for in the past few weeks. His and Ben's suffering would all be for nothing.
So instead Rook reached into his utility belt and pulled out a tissue and held it out to Ben.
Blinking in surprise, Ben snapped back to reality and took the tissue from the soldier. "Thanks..." He said once he wiped the tears from his face. "So do you know how to get out of here?"
Rook shook his head.
Ben sighed. "So we're stuck here for a while huh?" Stuck in a room with a soldier who was supossed to kill him... Just great.
The soldier just shrugged.
"You're not a Bleezian are you?" Ben had to stop himself for slapping his forehead, remembering his head injury. "Yeah the lack of tails kind of gives you away." He rubbed at his eyes again. "And seeing that you helped me, I guess you don't agree with Kwaadsay... So what the guy has obligatory military service or something?"
Rook nodded. He wasn't even lying. From what he had learned from the other soldiers in the army, only actual Bleezians wanted to join Kwaadsay's army. All the other soldiers of other spieces came from the many planets the Bleezians had taken over. Most of those men had been forced to join the millitary.
"I'm sorry." Ben sighed, pulled his knees up. "I wish I knew about the Bleezian empire sooner so I could have stopped this whole mess." The teen looked down. "Maybe I could have prevented them from killing my boyfriend..."
It was torture for Rook to watch Ben like this. All of Ben's confidence was gone and he just looked so... Hopeless. Like all his happiness had been taken away.
Rook reached out but pulled his hand back sharply. He should not- It would blow his cover, and- Brallada! Hemissed Ben so much... And Ben was right there!
So Rook reached out.
Ben froze when he felt the soldier gently patted his head, twice. He immediatly straightened up. "Did you just..." Ben stared at the soldier, his eyes wide. "Did you just 'there there' me?"
Rook quickly got to his feet, his hands went up to his helmet, ready to end this facade-
But before he could reveal himself to Ben, when suddenly the broken pieces of the wall that blocked the door were blasted away.
The smoke cleared to reveal eight Bleezian soldiers standing in the doorway, all of them holding their weapons ready to fire.
Their leader, Irrit, stepped forward, his yellow eyes scanning the room. A smile formed on his thin lips when he saw Ben. "Good work soldier," Irrit nodded in Rook's direction. "You caught Tennyson."
Ben quickly got to his feet, ready for a fight, but the soldiers grabbed his arms before he could even try and reach for the Omnitrix. "Hey!" Ben yelled, struggling to get out of their grip. "Let me go!" He froze when the soldiers pointed their guns at him.
Irrit crossed his arms, a smug look on his face. How lucky was he? Kwaadsay had orderd the capture of Earth's hero the moment they invaded Earth, and here he was.
"Now the boss want you alive, for now," Irrit casually informed the hero, slowly walking closer to Ben. "but if you do anything funny then we'll gladly make sure to leave a permanent mark." He chuckled darkly and patted Ben's cheek. "Understood?"
Ben pulled his head away from the Bleezian. "Screw you dude! If you think I'm- AH!" Ben doubled over in pain when Irrit suddenly kneed him in the stomach.
It took all of Rook's will power to not tackle Irrit right that moment.
Irrit forced Ben to look at him by pulling at his hair. "Understood?"
Ben groaned, but eventually nodded his head.
"Good," Irrit smirked and patted Ben's cheek again, taking great pleasure in the teen's humilation. "lets go." He looked at the one soldier who had managed to capture Ben Tennyson. "Come on Soldier, Kwaadsay would probably want to congratulate the guy that caught Earths protector."
After a brief pause Rook nodded, and followed Irrit and his troop. Not once did he dare to take his eyes off Ben.
Ben-10-Omniverse.
Gwen, Kevin, Max and Argit stood in the throne-room of Bleezian Mothership. They had their hands cuffed behind their backs and wre surounded by Bleezian soldiers who all had their guns pointed at them. Most of the soldiers focussed on Argit so he wouldn't be able to shoot his quills at anyone.
Kwaadsay sat on his large, blue cushioned throne, his traingle-shaped eyes shinging with amusement as he gazed at his prissoners. He'd already been told litanant Irrit was on his way, with a very special prissoner. "Maybe now the people of Earth will finally listen to me, after I killed you all and their precious hero."
"Earth ain't going down without a fight!" Kevin spat, struggling to break through the handcuffs.
Kwaadsay chuckled, his eyes on the door. "We'll see about that." He said when Irrit walked with his soldiers and a struggling Ben Tennyson.
Irrit stopped in front of Kwaadsay's throne and straightened up. "Sir," he saluted. "we have brought you Ben Tennyson."
Smiling wildly, like a child on Christmas morning, Kwaadsay got off of his throne and stalked over to them so he could get a good look at Eath's hero. "The Ben Ten," He chuckled, looming over Ben. His tone made it perfecly clear of what he thought of the teen. "earth greatest hero, the most famous teen in the whole galaxy, and," His grin widened. "rumor has it that you're recently single."
Kwaadsay let out a small laugh when he saw Ben's eyes widen in hurt.
"I don't exactly recall killing this, Rook Blonko," Kwaadsay went on, starting to walk around a bit while looking so damn pleased with himself. "but when you end so many lives you start to loose count."
Ben finally found his voice. "You're one sick bastard, you know that?" He said, trying to sounds just as taunting as he had when he challenged Khyber for the first time. Somehow he sounded even worse now.
To Ben's surprised, his words only made Kwaadsay's smile grow.
"Yes I know," Kwaadsay smiled at Ben. "I've been called many other things too." His wide grin made him look somewhat deranged, which wasn't a bad look for psychopathic mass murderer."So you've been after my Destrauhl, correct?"
A small part of the floor opened and the Destrauhl is lifted out of it by an anti-gravity beam.
"Wonderful little thing isn't it?" Kwaadsay queried, turning back to Ben. "And you thought you could destroy it with your Alien X."
Ben raised an eyebrow. "Alien X can do that?" He planned on using Alien X if the Destruahl got activated, but he never considered simply destroying the weapon.
Near the wall Max and Rook tensed up.
Kwaadsay was taken aback. "You didn't know that?" And suddenly it clicked and he turned to Max. "Well, seeing how recluse you can get while fighting, I can understand if that was kept a secret from you."
Gwen looked at Grandpa Max, not believing what Kwaadsay was saying. There was no way Max woud have kept something like that from them. "Grandpa?"
Max sighed. This was not how he wanted Ben to find out. "Yes, Alien X can do that," he admitted. He met Ben's eyes. "but if Ben destroys it then the effects on his human body could kill him."
"Grandpa why didn't you tell me this earlier?" Ben asked in disbelief. All this destruction could have just been prevented.
"Because I knew you'd try to destroy it when you had the chance." Max answered, bowing his head in shame. He knew what he'd done was wrong. His actions not only hurt Ben and Rook, but also cost a lot of lives. "I don't want you killing yourself for our safety."
"Touching." Kwaadsay spoke up when Ben averted his gaze. "But sadly I need to cut it short." He nodded at Irrit who made a hand gesture at his troop.
The soldiers surounding Max, Gwen, Kevin and Argit raised their guns and prepared to shoot.
"Ah crap," Argit swallowed nervously. His ears lowered as he turned to Kevin. "hey Kev, if this is the end, I just need to say you're one of my closest pals, and I'm the one who scratched your car that one time."
Kevin was touched by Argit's words... Right un till his last sentence registered. "I KNEW IT!"
Kwaadsay was about to give his soldiers permission to fire their guns, when he noticed the necklace chain around Ben's neck. He pulled on it. His eyes lit up when he pulled a Plumber Badge from underneath Ben's shirt.
"Hey!" Ben protested. "Let go of that!"
The teen's reaction told Kwaadsay all that he needed to know. "This is your partner's badge." He stated, studying the object. "How sweet, keeping it even though he's long gone." Kwaadsay smiled gleefully, before yanking on the necklace hard enough to snap the chain.
Ben gasped, wildly shaking his head, "No!" He yelled, stuggling to free his arms. "Give it back!"
"Oh don't worry," Kwaadsay waved his free hand in up and down motion that basicaly said 'chill'. "you'll be joining him soon, so you won't be needing this." As he said that he crushed Rook's Plumber Badge in his fist.
"NO!" Ben screamed his insides going cold.
The last only thing he had left of Rook and it was... Ben hung his head in grief.
"Now, now," Kwaadsay waved his bony finger in front of Ben's face. A pleased grin on his pale white face. "No need to get all emotional. It's just buss-" He stopped talking when Ben slowly lifted his head.
Ben's face had gone pale, but it were his eyes that caught Kwaadsay's attention. Dull, emerald eyes glared at the dictator, the intense hate in them enough to make the powerful alien pause.
"Aw... did I hurt the little hero's feelings?" Kwaadsay laughed, showing off his shark-like teeth. "Well too ba-"
"Omnitrix, code 1 3 000." Ben cut off Kwaadsay's monolouge. His voice soft, but also so cold, that it shocked his friends and family. Ben closed his eyes before continuing. "Infinite lifeforms, excess code L. P 0 2" The Omnitrix made a series of high-pitched beeping noises before lighting up, surounding the teen in green light.
When the light faded Humangesaur stood in Ben's place.
Humangesaur opened his eyes and let out a loud fericous roar, before roughly throwing the guards holding him down of him, sending them flying across the room, and into the walls.
Roaring loudly, Humangesaur charged at Kwaadsay and started punching the dictator. Immediatly all the guards ran towards them, trying to save their leader.
Max, Gwen and the other instantly forgotten were instantly forgotten by the soldiers.
"What did Ben do?" Kevin asked, absorbing the metal of his handcuffs and becoming strong enought to break free.
"Who cares?!" Argit cried letting Kevin break his handcuffs. "It's awes- whoa!" He barely jumped away on time to avoid being impaled by a piece of taternite. "What the..." Argit turned his attention back to the fight.
Diamond Head was now fighting in Humangesaur's place.
"Did he turn on the randomizer again?" Gwen wondered, using mana to slice through her handcuffs. She then went to Max to free him of his bindings.
Max shook his head, staring at his grandson who... Fighting like some sort of feral beast. "I don't know, Gwen." He breathed, slowly shaking his head. Apparantly there were functions on the Omnitrix that only Ben and Azmuth knew about.
Gwen put a hand over her chest as she watched Ben fight. This was so wrong... Ben looked wild and... Dangerous. "We need to try to calm Ben down before he kills someone!"
In this state it took Ben only seconds to take down all the soldiers that had been attacking him. He was now Heat Blast, his flames burning so hot they became blue
Breathing hard, Ben started walking to Kwaadsay, who was slowly backing up from him. For the first time he understood why so many others avoided attacking Earth, and yet he couldn't believe this- this thing was considered a hero. He'd seen how fericiously and easily Ben Tennyson had taken out his army... This was no man. It was a beast!
"You picked the wrong planet to mess with." Ben hissed, his voice low. "You destroyed homes, hurt innocent people who did NOTHING to deserve this, and thanks to YOU!" Ben roared, throwing a fire blast at Kwaadsay, hitting him in the chest.
Ben didn't give the alien a chance to recover. He placed his burning hand on Kwaadsay's chest and shoved him against the wall. Ben ignored Kwaadsay's screeches of pain.
"THE ONE PERSON I WANTED TO BE WITH FOR THE REST OF MY LIFE IS GONE!" Ben screamed at the dictator, the flames on his body turning white. "IF YOU DON'T WANT ME TO COOK YOU ALIVE, THEN YOU BETTER HAVE A DAMN GOOD REASON WHY I SHOULDN'T!"
Max stared at Ben in disbelief. "BEN!"
Gwen reached out in Ben's direction, mana wraped around Heat Blast's waist and she pulled him away from Kwaadsay. "That's enough!" The anidote cried, her eyes glowing.
Heatblast weakly struggled against the Mana, holding him. "But he-"
Gwen's eyes turned back to their normal shade of green. "We know Ben," She quietly told her cousin. Her voice calm and soothing. "but you're about to do something there's no coming back from. I know you're angry and upset, but you can't let that control what you do!"
For a moment it looked like Heat Blast was gonna try and stuggle out of her grip again, but then he looked at Kwaadsay, who had sank down to the floor. The color of Heat Blast's flames slowly turned back to orange. He sighed, his shoulders slumping in defeat.
A flash of green light surounded him and he turned back to normal.
Gwen sighed in relief. For a small moment she'd been worried that she wouldn't be able to get through to Ben. "It's alright, Ben." She said as she lowered him down to the floor.
Ben's eyes were on the shattered remains of Rook's Badge. "That was the only thing I had left of him..."
"We know Ben," Gwen said, feeling her own eyes well up with tears. They'd gotten Kwaadsay, the war was over, but that did not bring back what was lost. "and we're really sorry."
Kevin put a hand on Ben's shoulder. "Don't worry buddy," He quietly told Ben. "he'll pay for everything he's done. We'll all make sure of that." Kevin would make sure of it.
Argit nodded, feeling bad for the hero. He was more than just a bit impressed after what he'd seen Ben do. Argit knew that he would not be so wise when given that kind of power. "I may not have known Rook very well," He started. "but I bet the guy would be pretty darn proud that you didn't off the guy." He looked over at where Ben left Kwaadsay. His eyes widened when he didn't see the dictator. "...Where'd he go?"
His answer came in the form of a certain... Familiar weapon went of.
The group turned around just in time to see the only remaining soldier shoot a blast at Kwaadsay when the dictator was inched away from grabbing the Destrauhl.
The soldier walked over to the fallen overlord and put his foot on top of Kwaadsay, pinning him down as he pulled out a pair of handcuffs with his free hand, while holding a prototool in the other. "You are under arrest." The soldier said, handcuffing Kwaadsay.
"What the...?" Kevin stared at the soldier and turned to the others, expecting that one of them to know what the heck was going on.
Max smiled tiredly, and walked over to his grandson. "Ben." He put his hands on Ben's shoulders, forcing Ben to look away from the soldier he'd been staring at, and meet his eyes. "I did something that I'm not proud of." He started, trying to control his nerves. What he did was cruel and he'd understand if Ben choose to never forgive him. "What I did wasn't right and it ended up hurting you and everyone very badly... And I'm so sorry."
For his part Ben just stared at his grandpa in confussion. "What..."
"I've been lying to everyone for the past few weeks." Max looked at the soldier, an appologetic look on his face. "And I pressured him to lie too. Azmuth talked some sense into me last time we saw him. So I'm sorry about that too."
The soldier nodded his head. "It is okay."
Ben gasped and took a staggering step backwards.
That voice...
No... It wasn't possible.
By now Argit had enough of this. "Are you going to tell us who the heck this guy is please?! You're driving me nuts!"
Max nodded at the soldier. "Well, might as well take that helmet off." He said, getting out of the way.
The soldier stepped away from Kwaadsay and took his helmet off, revealing his identity to the group.
An audiable gasp went through the throne room.
"Rook?!" Gwen exclaimed in shock.
Her boyfriend's reaction was much calmed. "No way..." Kevin breathed out.
"He's been alive this whole time?!" Argit cried, pulling on his ears.
Rook dropped the helmet to the floor and walked up to Ben. Ben who hadn't spoken yet, and was just staring at him, with a far away look in his eyes.
Rook gently brushed his thumb over Ben's pale cheek. "I missed you so much my Smarahd."
The pet-name seemed to pull Ben from his trance like state. He blinked a couple of times, as if he didn't believe what his eyes were showing him. Ben gently -as if Rook was something fragile that could disapear any moment- cupped Rook's cheek and Rook leaned into the touch, puring softly. He'd missed Ben so much.
Ben's mind was numb with disbelief. For weeks he believed Rook was dead and all this time he'd been undercover an-
SLAP!
Everyone recoiled at the sound of flesh striking flesh.
"HOW COULD YOU DO THIS TO ME?!" Ben shrieked, tears streaming down his cheeks. "I THOUGHT YOU WERE DEAD YOU SELFISH BASTARD!"
Rook's hand was on his stinging cheek, his eyes wide and his chest aching when he saw the deep hurt shining in Ben's eyes. "Ben, I never intended fo-" He didn't get to finish his sentence.
Suddenly Ben's hands were on the sides of his face again and the small human pulled his boyfriend into a deep, almost desperate kiss. Rook kissed back, both of them savoring the wonderful feeling of being with each other again.
"Please," Ben pleaded when they pulled apart. "please don't ever do something like that again. I-I can't lose you Fuzzball. I... I can't!"
Rook pulled Ben close, hugging him tightly. "I am so sorry Ben," Rook whispered, feeling tears well up in his eyes. "I never wanted to hurt you like that. Magister told me how you would sacrifice your life just to save us..." His breathing hitched, realising that he'd just put Ben through his own worst fear. "I did not want to risk you doing that, my Smarahd..." A choked sob escaped him. "I am so sorry." Rook said pulling Ben as close as he possibly could.
A few feet away, Ben's friends and family were watching the beautiful reunion. Gwen crossed her arms, and glared at her grandfather struggling to notbe disgusted by what he had done. "We are having a talk when we get home."
"But first" Kevin grabbed the Destrauhl. "Lets destroy this thing, and throw this creep in the slammer." Kevin gave Kwaadsay a small kick in the side, making the villain growl at him. "Yeah, you're gonna be paying big time, for what you did."
Ben showed no indication of having heard them. He pressed his ear against Rook's chest, his breath catching in his throat when he heard that wonderful sound of Rook's strong heartbeat.
He wished he could stay like that, but there were still things that needed to be done. "The throne, Rook." Ben said pulling away just slighly.
"What is it, Smarahd?" Rook looked down at Ben's head, not wanting to let go.
Feeling the same way, Ben solved that problem by taking Rook's hand in his, and pulling him towards Kwaadsay's throne, careful to step over the unconscious Bleezian soldiers.
Rook did not even try to avoid stepping on the fallen soldiers. He even found some weird satishfaction when he stepped on Irrit's hand. He watched Ben study the control panel attacked to the arm of Kwaadsay's throne. Realizing what his beloved was looking for Rook grabbed the small microphone attached to the chair. "This is what Kwaadsay used to have his threats broadcasted all over the planet."
Ben took the microphone from Rook. He looked at it and then at Rook who gently squeezed Ben's hand and nodded.
That was enough to encourage Ben. For the first time in weeks he smiled a real smile as he held the microphone to his mouth. "People of earth, this is Ben Tennyson speaking." He anounced, feeling Rook gently rub his thumb over the back of his hand. Yes, this is how Ben could handle public speaking.
"Today the Plumbers and I defeated the dictator Kwaadsay. All of Kwaadsay's soldiers have 24 hours to turn themselves in at Plumber Headquarters in Bellwood. If they do not than they will be hunted down and brought to justice." Ben grinned and met Rook's eyes. "Because, starting by today... Earth is free again."